Black Olympian ‘feared’ family’s safety during police stop and search | UK News

A Black Olympic sprinter who was pulled over by police while driving home from training says he ‘feared’ for the safety of his family.

Ricardo Dos Santos, 28, and Team GB athlete Bianca Williams, 29, have accused the Metropolitan Police of racially profiling them.

Dos Santos, who represents Portugal, Williams and their then three-month-old son were driving to their north-west London home when police began tailing them.

Five officers pulled De Santos over just outside his Maida Vale property before handcuffing him and searching them for weapons and drugs and Williams for weapons in July 2020.

The couple were detained for some 45 minutes all while their son was in the back of their Mercedes – nothing was found.

Video of the incident went viral on social media, leading to the Met to refer itself to the police watchdog the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).

Dos Santos and Williams’ lawyers lodged their complaints about the stop-and-search on July 9, just two days after the incident.

The officers from the territorial support group – Acting Sgt Rachel Simpson, PC Allan Casey, PC Jonathan Clapham, PC Michael Bond and PC Sam Franks – are accused of gross misconduct.

All deny the charges.

‘The matter set out above, if proven, is said to amount to gross misconduct, in that it is so serious as to justify dismissal,’ the Met Office says.

Dashcam footage from the police cruiser which followed Dos Santos’ blacked-out car was shown at the disciplinary panel in Blackfriars today.

Dos Santos denied breaking any rules of the road when asked to pull over and was not trying to ‘evade’ police.

‘I didn’t want anything to happen to my family and I wanted to get home,’ he told the tribunal.

‘I realised that the police carrier was following me and I hadn’t done anything wrong.

‘I was afraid for the safety of Bianca and my son.’

For Dos Santos, 28, seeing the police vehicle following him brought up ‘multiple occasions’ of ‘traumatic experiences’ of him as a Black man being pulled side by officers.

Dos Santos, who competed for Portugal in the 400m sprint at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, added: ‘As a young Black person, I’ve been stopped on multiple occasions by police.

‘These are very traumatic experiences and my experience is very different to those of others.

‘You have no idea how it feels to be accused of things you haven’t done as a young black person in London.’

Body-cam footage recorded Dos Santos swearing several times at the officers and mocking them about their jobs.

‘Everybody deals with trauma differently,’ Dos Santos stressed.

‘I laugh, sometimes I shake. I’m shaking now. I can only speak for myself and my partner – it affected her so much she had to leave the media.

‘She doesn’t do media appearances any more. It has affected my performance on the track. I shouldn’t be here.’

Dos Santos claimed officers came up to his car and attempted to smash through the window.

‘Within a matter of seconds, you had a glass cutter and batons raised,’ he added, speaking directly to one of the officers.

‘If you come and try to smash the glass we can’t conversate.’

All five officers face allegations they breached police standards over equality and diversity.

Pcs Casey, Clapham, Bond and Franks breached professional behaviour standards, it has been alleged.

A/PS Simpson and Pcs Clapham, Bond and Franks face additional allegations they breached standards for their use of force.

They are also accused of failures in relation to their levels of authority, respect and courtesy as well as in their duties and responsibilities.

The way Pc Casey carried out his duties and responsibilities or gave orders and instructions may also have amounted to a breach.

The hearing continues.

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